The company announced the news through a message posted on its website. Although Apple still didn't indicate what it had in store for Beats now that it owns the headphone maker, it did welcome the 8-year-old firm to the family:

"Today we are excited to officially welcome Beats Music and Beats Electronics to the Apple family," Apple wrote. "Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we're thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do.

Apple also praised Beats cofounders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, emphasising how they created "beautiful products that have helped millions of people deepen their connection to music."

Tim Cook, the chief executive officer of Apple, further took to his personal Twitter account to welcome Beats "to the family", including "Jimmy, Dre, Luke, Ian and the entire beats team".

It's worth noting a report claimed earlier this week that Apple wants to cut 200 jobs at Beats, primarily in the human resources and finance departments as well as any job duplicated at Apple. All Beats' creative workers should stay on board.

Apple first revealed in May it wanted to buy Beats. The deal passed all hurdles and closed without any hiccups. In fact, the Eurpean Union approved the deal just this week, upon finding that the acquisition would cause no competitive problems.

Apple is likely not only interested in Beats' headphone business but also Beats Music, a music-streaming service that Beats launched earlier this year. It is assumed that Apple plans to somehow incorporate both into its product lineup.